Time to get organized for the new year

Every year, I promise myself the same thing. I'm going to get more organized! While organizing everything is nearly an impossible task, choosing one area to get in order is much easier to think about and accomplish. So why not get your couponing strategy in order and begin saving money right from the start of this new year!

If you're a brand new couponer, you might not know where to start. Or maybe you're an experienced couponer and let your coupons get out of control over the busy holiday season. Now's the time to take back control of them.

If you are a new couponer, you'll need to figure out how you will be keeping track of all of your coupons. There is no right or wrong way to organize your coupons. Here are the common coupon organization methods:

Binder Method: The most popular coupon organization method is using a 3 inch, 3-ring binder filled with baseball card inserts. Coupons are clipped and then stored in the card slots and divided by categories such as dairy, produce, frozen, meats, etc. This requires more time than the other methods since you'll be cutting all coupons, but also offers the best visualization to them.

Full Inserts: Another method involves no clipping at all! Full uncut inserts are simply stored and coupons are cut as needed. This works best when following coupon matchups from websites since they are referenced and can then be easily found.

Hybrid Method: What I like to do is a combination of the two methods above. Each week, I go through the coupon inserts and cut coupons that I know my family would be interested in using. I do this because coupons vary in different regions of the country. Even though a reference in a coupon matchup may say that a coupon can be found in a particular newspaper insert, there is no guarantee the coupon was in your insert that week. It very well might have been in the week before or week after.

The coupons I cut from the inserts along with Internet coupons I print are put in my binder. Then I also store what's left of the full inserts. While the coupons left in the insert may not be products my family regularly uses, they still are worth keeping in case a free deal or even money-maker (a deal that is better than free with a coupon) pops up!

While you are organizing your coupons, be sure to look through them for expiration dates. Many coupons that you receive by mail from manufacturers and even some that were printed have expiration dates for the end of the year. That means you only have two days left now to use them. Now don't go purchasing items that aren't on sale or that you don't need just because your coupon is going to expire. Trust me, there will always be more! Just make sure you are not missing any high-value coupons that you may have forgotten about. Also be sure to check the printable coupon sites. With the new year approaching, there will be many new coupons, but also many that will disappear as the year comes to a close.

Happy New Year!

You can always find more information about the stores, products, and tips above at SavingByDesign.com.

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